baby bargainista addresses recent product recalls

In this week’s baby bargainista column, Rebecca Atkinson discusses the recent rash of product recalls on items for babies and young children.

As a parent, one of the things you do not wish to hear about are product recalls especially when they relate to items you own or are using. You also don’t want to think that the very products you use to keep your children safe are not safe.

On Thursday September 30, Fisher-Price announced a recall to more than 11 million toys and items across North America. The recalls are voluntary and are not related to each other, other than the fact that they happen to pose the risk of potential injury.

Consumers are advised to stop using the recalled products and call the recall hotline (800) 432-5437 between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.

Last Wednesday, articles began surfacing urging parents to stop using popular sleep positioners designed to stop infants from rolling over on their stomachs. What was supposed to be a product to help reduce SIDS, may in fact also cause suffocation.

Babies R Us is among one of several North American retailers and manufacturers that have decided to stop selling or to withdraw the product from store shelves. A check of their websites show they are no longer selling the product online.

As a mother of a child with gastroesophageal reflux disease, we had seen several recommendations advocating we use positioners to help MJ stay off her back, and more on her side (avoid choking stomach acid coming back up). However, with her condition, she was nothing but a wiggle worm so we worried about exactly this problem and chose not to use one. After reading this, I feel good about our choice not to use one.

Since there is no official recall, there is no recourse for parents who own one of these positioners. The good news is they generally retailed for $20 or less so while you might be out of some money, thankfully it’s not an exorbitant amount.

Have you ever owned a recalled product? Do you follow the advice to stop using products (and get replacements where applicable?), or do you continue using them? What if it was your child’s favourite toy – what would you do then?

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Back on the NutriSystem bandwagon

Kirstie Alley might be the most famous rebound dieter to tell her story this month but she’s not he only one.

Well, despite all your wonderful support, slipped into some of my bad habits again and gained back about half of the weight I lost last year.

Good news! A representative for NutriSystem Canada read my tweets and offered to replenish my supply. Despite my initial elation and subsequent resistance, I’ve been on the program the past three weeks.

Getting back on track hasn’t been without its bumps along the way. Once I finally submitted my order, it took six weeks to arrive. Unfortunately, for NutriSystem, the first order they were going to hand deliver, was stolen.

My order also came with several substitutions, some I wasn’t crazy about. I wish they had a means of communicating this to customers first. I’d prefer choosing my own rather than some stranger who doesn’t know my likes and dislikes. A few weeks later, I was told they’d be happy to exchange the food I didn’t want. What I wasn’t told was the substitutions were made because NutriSystem pulled breakfast and lunch bars containing peanut butter out of their inventory because of salmonella concerns. I wish they’d have told me that upfront instead of leading me to believe they didn’t have their act together when fulfilling orders. I found out by accident googling NutriSystem.

These days, people are asking about my experience so instead of fat-blogging, I’ll provide occasional reports about the program and what NutriSystem Canada is doing to improve its service.

As for me, I’ll try my best to have regular weigh-ins (ignoring the scale was probably the worst thing I could do – weekly weigh-ins would have helped me nip that weight gain in the bud). I’ve also been more active. The biggest challenge right now, is sticking to the programs. My willpower has been pretty strong but not as strong as it was when I did the program last year. And by the way, I’ve lost about 4 pounds. My goal is another 6-10 more and keeping it off.